Alternative healer Hongchi Xiao jailed over woman’s death at slapping therapy workshop
An alternative healer has been jailed for 10 years over the death of a diabetic woman who stopped taking her insulin at his slapping therapy workshop.
Hongchi Xiao, 61, was previously found guilty of the gross negligence manslaughter of 71-year-old Danielle Carr-Gomm at a week-long retreat at Cleeve House in Seend, Wiltshire, in October 2016.
Xiao was sentenced to 10 years in prison, plus a five-year extended licence period, today at Winchester Crown Court.
The judge, Mr Justice Bright, said Mrs Carr-Gomm’s “untimely death was a tragedy for her and all of those who loved her”.
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Xiao was handed a five-year extended licence period in addition to his jail term.
The court previously heard she was one of 30 “keen disciples” who attended the paida lajin therapy event – which sees patients being slapped or slapping themselves repeatedly.
Mrs Carr-Gomm, from Lewes, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1998 and had sought alternatives to her insulin medication because of her vegetarianism and fear of needles.
Danielle Carr-Gomm. Pic: Wiltshire Police
Xiao claimed his method could cure nearly all diseases, including diabetes, and the severe bruising caused by the slapping showed toxins being released from the body.
Prosecutors said the therapist, from Cloudbreak, California – referred to as “Master Xiao” in the programme for the workshop – knew she was risking death but said “well done” after she told the group she had stopped taking her insulin.
The jury was told he then failed to seek medical help for her when became seriously ill and was “crying on her bed and howling in pain” before she died of diabetic ketoacidosis on the fourth day of the course.
The judge said Xiao had shown “no real sign of clear remorse” as he continues to practice and promote paida lajin in prison.
“I sentence you on the basis you knew from late in the afternoon of day one of the fact that Danielle Carr-Gomm had stopped taking her insulin,” he said. “Furthermore you made it clear to her you supported this.”
Previous manslaughter conviction
Xiao was extradited to face trial from Australia, where he had previously been convicted of the manslaughter of a six-year-old boy who died in April 2015 – 16 months before Mrs Carr-Gomm – when his parents stopped giving him his insulin after attending one of Xiao’s workshops in Sydney.
He told the Winchester jury he stopped working in finance in the early 2000s before travelling to mountainous areas of China, where he learnt various methods relating to natural healing, from fishermen to kung fu masters, before learning paida lajin.
Meaning “slap and stretch”, it is said to be a method of self-healing in which “poisonous waste” is expelled from the body through patting and slapping parts of the body.
Hongchi Xiao
The court heard Xiao, who has no medical qualifications or training, had been an “exponent” of the therapy for 10 years and had written a book on it, but it was not recognised by the association of traditional Chinese medicine.
Footage from a 2015 lecture in India shows Xiao teaching attendees how to slap the inside of their elbows as he tells them: “No pain, no gain.”
He brings one man, who says he has heart disease, on stage and slaps his arm to heighten the bruise, telling the crowd: “This is what we call poison blood.”
“The harder, the longer, the more quickly it disappears,” Xiao says.
Mrs Carr-Gomm, who was born in France before moving to the UK aged 21, first joined one of Xiao’s workshops in Bulgaria in July 2016, where she also fell ill after stopping taking her insulin, but restarted and later recovered.
In a video testimonial, she addresses Xiao as “master” and tells him: “You’re definitely a messenger sent by God because you’re starting a revolution to put the power back in the hands of the people to cure themselves and to change the whole system of health care.”
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The court heard participants at the Wiltshire retreat signed a disclaimer form which stated the practice was not “meant for medical treatment” and they fasted for several days, only consuming a Chinese tea.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC had told the jury by the third day Mrs Carr-Gomm “was vomiting, tired and weak, and by the evening she was howling in pain and unable to respond to questions”.
Hongchi Xiao delivers a 2015 lecture. Pic: CPS
A chef at the workshop, Teresa Hayes, said she was “delirious” and “frothing at the mouth” before she died in the early hours of the following day on 20 October 2016.
‘Desperate to cure herself’
After her death, her son Matthew Carr-Gomm, who lives in New Zealand, said: “She was always keen to try and find alternative methods of treating and dealing with her diabetes, and was very interested in alternative and holistic medicine and therapies.
“I know she was desperate to try and cure herself of this disease.
“She always maintained a healthy lifestyle and was adamant that nothing would stop her from living a full life.
“In recent years, mum was in a great place with a partner, a lovely home and was travelling the world. She had a lot of life left in her.”
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Walker said he was “pleased” to see Xiao behind bars, adding: “He had no medical qualifications yet, despite this, was actively encouraging those in attendance at his workshops to refrain from taking their regular medication, knowing full well the consequences.”
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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